We are a speakers bureau dedicated to exceptional customer service. Learn more >

Eric Chester

Eric Chester is the premier expert on the emerging workforce.

He began his career as a high school business teacher and coach. After six years in the classroom, Eric launched out as a motivational speaker for students, and in the decade that followed, he became one of America’s top speakers for youth visiting hundreds of schools throughout the US and Canada and inspiring millions of high school and college students to reach higher and work harder.

Leading companies and organizations soon discovered that Eric had “cracked the code” on the emerging generation and sought out Eric’s advice on how they could better engage the under 30 workforce. With his engaging, often irreverent style, he quickly became a favorite keynote speaker for corporate meetings and events.

Since 1998, Eric Chester has been the leading voice in recruiting, training, managing, motivating, and retaining young talent. More than 200 clients including 7-Eleven, McDonald’s, Wells Fargo, Harley-Davidson, Allstate, ServiceMaster, and Alcoa, have turned to Eric to help them better understand and engage their emerging workforce.

Chester is also the Founder of The Center for Work Ethic Development, a firm offering cutting-edge curriculum and online training resources for leaders, high school and college students, workforce training centers, and all levels of employees.

With a diminishing work ethic being a primary concern for today’s employers, Eric frequently appears on national media to provide insight and perspective to business leaders, educators, and concerned adults. He’s the author of the business books Employing Generation Why (Tucker House Books) and Getting Them to Give a Damn (Kaplan). His 2012 release, Reviving Work Ethic – A Leader’s Guide to Ending Entitlement and Restoring Pride in the Workforce – is the first business book on work ethic since 1904.

Eric’s next book, “On Fire at Work: How 51 Great Leaders Ignite Passion in their People without Burning them Out,” was released in October 2015.

Categories: Generational Differences, Workforce Issues

Show More

To inquire about pricing and availability, please complete the form below.

View Eric Chester's

Videos

Topics

Reviving Work Ethic: Helping Leaders End Entitlement and Restore Pride in the Emerging Workforce

Presented by Eric Chester, Bestselling Author of Employing Generation Why, Hall-of-Fame Speaker, and the Founder and CEO of Reviving Work Ethic and the Bring Your A Game to Work Initiative. In a perfect world, business leaders would employ a workforce that's engaged, enthused, and ethically unassailable. The reality, of course, is that the new emerging workforce is streetwise and techno-savvy, but they've not been taught how to succeed in the workplace, at home, or at school. Eric Chester is the leading authority on developing work ethic in young adults and leading Gen Y employees to achieve at their remarkable potential. His presentation will illustrate why the work ethic in America has declined, and he'll provide solid, actionable ideas and tools for developing the young worker and restoring the pride of a job well done, instilling within them the work ethic they should have received at home and in school - but didn't. * Discover the 7 Indisputable Core Values that every employer demands from every worker, and why they are getting harder to find but are essential to develop. * Find out how to promote a workplace culture rooted in reliability, professionalism, integrity, and respect. * Learn how to be an 'up and over' leader, moving employees from "Idle," "Lucky," and "Cheating" behaviors into the "Valued" Quadrant. * Improve customer service in your business to break free from a "vending machine mentality" by learning how to instill an attitude of gratitude across your front line.

How to Get From Here to There... (College/Career Tech Students)

...even if you haven't yet figured out where 'there' is. Description: Eric Chester has spent his entire career in helping people figure out the transition of school-to-work-to-career. He's a former business teacher and coach turned motivational speaker for millions of high school and college students. Over the past 12 years, he's been the keynote speaker and consultant to more than 150 top companies and organizations that rely heavily on teens and young adults as their emerging workforce. He's an author of five books and the co-author of eight others all written to help smooth the transition from school-to-work. His latest book - Reviving Work Ethic is the first book for business leaders written on work ethic since 1904. He'll share the secret of how to get where you really want to go, even if you don't know where that is.

Engaging the Disengaged (Educators/Staff Development)

How Educators Can End the Entitlement Mentality Among Students and Create an Environment of Achievement Description: Eric Chester is a former HS business teacher and football coach-turned motivational speaker. He spent 10 years speaking exclusively to students and was an invited presenter at more than 1000 schools in North America. However, for the past 12 years, Eric has been speaking to, and working with employers who are feeling the effects of an emerging workforce that is woefully prepared with the work ethic necessary to succeed. Developing work ethic in students is not optional; it is a responsibility-one that should be shared by every individual employed by a school district-whether in the classroom, the cafeteria, the administration office, or the school bus. The purpose of schools is to prepare students for success in the real world. Developing a healthy work ethic prepares young people to be better students while they are in school, but also prepares them to be better employees, better leaders, and better citizens. Eric Chester is the leading authority on developing work ethic in teens and young adults. His presentation will illustrate why the work ethic in America has declined, and he'll provide solid, actionable ideas and tools for getting students to achieve at a higher level in school and off campus.

From Rookie to Superstar: Improving Your Business by Developing Your People from the Inside Out

Description: Research proves that most business leaders are not satisfied with the performance, productivity, and the service they are getting from their emerging workforce. The problem is not so much a skills gap as it is a values gap, which is apparent when analyzing the core work ethic values a growing number of employees are bringing to the job. This is the cause--and the effect--of Eric Chester's compelling presentation based on his breakthrough leadership book, Reviving Work Ethic - A Leader's Guide to Ending Entitlement and Restoring Pride in the Emerging Workforce. With his hilarious and unconventional style of delivery, Chester will help you build the seven essential work ethic values within your people to ensure their success, and the success and sustainability of your business.

Blue Ribbon Ideas for Attracting and Developing an Invincible Workforce (for skilled trades)

Eric's inspiring program for leaders, employers, contractors, etc. in skilled trade industries shows them what it takes to break through to the mindset of the emerging workforce. In this, high-energy, dynamic, content-rich presentation, he reveals today's best practices for recruiting, training, managing, and motivating the under-30 demographic to jobs many young people don't consider 'sexy', and how to get them to perform up to their remarkable potential. Throughout his program he integrates best practice examples from other recruiters, HR professionals, and knowledgeable industry leaders that have been successful in increasing interest, building application flow, and developing an enigmatic generation of workers from the inside out.

On Fire at Work - How Great Leaders Ignite Passion in their People without Burning Them Out

Description: After interviewing more than one hundred highly acclaimed C-level leaders across all industries, Eric has uncovered the four principles that are common when it comes to engaging today's rapidly changing workforce. Through a highly entertaining multi-media presentation, you'll see how great leaders create cultures that attract top talent, encourage innovation and collaborative thinking, and inculcate the desire to out-perform yesterday's best. Based upon the groundbreaking research in his new book On Fire at Work, business leaders walk away with actionable ideas that are innovative, relevant, and applicable. Uplifting, inspiring, and content-rich, it's impossible to experience "On Fire" without catching fire and igniting the passion for achieving excellence in those around you.

Books

Employing Generation Why

Employing Generation Why

This perceptive, direct, and provocative book provides readers with an in-depth look into the mindset of the 68-million post-X generation. Learn what leading-edge companies are doing to get the most from this talented, but misunderstood segment of our population. The familiar scenarios and insightful solutions provide readers with hundreds of usable strategies for getting the most out of Generation Why.

You can purchase this book here

Getting Them to Give a Damn: How to Get Your Front Line to Care about Your Bottom Line

Getting Them to Give a Damn: How to Get Your Front Line to Care about Your Bottom Line

Dubbed, "kidployees," the 16 to 24-year-olds of Generation Y share an entirely different set of values, expectations, and skills that must be reckoned with if you're among the millions of business owners and managers in America. It all comes down to understanding and connecting with this new generation of talented, quirky, book-smart, and streetwise kids who won't blindly conform to your company policies and standards. The good news is, this enigmatic group CAN be motivated to contribute in innovative and entrepreneurial ways that will ignite your profits and grow your business. Nationally recognized Generation Y expert Eric Chester reveals the management lessons and techniques that leading-edge employers are using to harness Gen-Y energy and techno savvy.

You can purchase this book here

Reviving Work Ethic: A Leader's Guide to Ending Entitlement and Restoring Pride in the Emerging Workforce

Reviving Work Ethic: A Leader's Guide to Ending Entitlement and Restoring Pride in the Emerging Workforce

For frustrated managers and leaders, a guide to instilling a strong work ethic in the modern workforce. Work ethic in America is fast declining, plaguing young and old alike. But in Reviving Work Ethic, Eric Chester shows that you do best to focus on your young employees--those whose habits and ideals can still be influenced. He presents an incisive look at the root of the entitlement mentality that afflicts many in the emerging workforce and shows readers the specific actions they can take to give their employees a deep commitment to performing excellent work. And his advice is crucial to a healthy bottom line: too often, talented-but-difficult-to-understand younger workers stand between your company and its profits. If business owners, managers, and executives are not connecting with them and modeling the key components of work ethic, employees are likely not connecting effectively with customers--leaving all kinds of money on the table. Reviving Work Ethic is the culmination of years of research as well as presentations to over two million youth. Chester's experience shows in his confident analysis of the seven components of work ethic and in his proven strategies for handing them down to young employees.

You can purchase this book here

On Fire at Work: How Great Companies Ignite Passion in Their People Without Burning Them Out

On Fire at Work: How Great Companies Ignite Passion in Their People Without Burning Them Out

On Fire at Work flies in the face of other books on workplace culture by showing that employee engagement isn't the ultimate goal--it's merely the starting point. Renowned leadership expert Eric Chester has gone straight to the source--top-tier leaders of the world's best places to work to uncover their best practice strategies for getting employees to work harder, perform better, and stay longer.

You can purchase this book here

Need Help?

Call us at 617-782-3111 or fill out this form and we will get back to you promptly!